Dems Decide to Punish “Obscene” Oil Profits With New Tax Hike

Democrats in both the House and Senate continue to push for higher taxes for oil companies to counter what they claim are “windfall” Profits from “Price gougingJust days after President Biden had accused oil giants making “,” “outrageous” Inflationary environment can lead to profits

“You may have noticed that Big Oil just reported record profits,” Biden said In his State of the Union Address last week. “Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. It’s outrageous.”

The Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act by Congress Democrats was introduced this week. It would impose new taxes upon the largest oil companies and pay that money directly back to taxpayers.

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In his State of the Union remarks President Biden demanded that oil companies pay more taxes. Democrats offered new taxes this week. (AP/iStock/AP Photos)

“Big Oil’s obscene profits last year are the spoils of war and cartel pricing,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse D-R.I. was the Senate sponsor of this bill. “Clawing back Big Oil’s windfall and returning it to the American families who paid for it at the pump is good policy that will help deter future price gouging.”

“Congress should heed the president’s call, ignore the fossil fuel industry’s lies, and deliver this needed relief for the American people,” He said.

Whitehouse and Rep. Ro Kanna (D-Calif.), the House sponsor of this bill, claim that the five largest publicly traded oil companies made more than $260 billion in profits during the last fiscal year. This was at a time when gasoline prices were higher than $5 per gallon.

Biden spoke last week that these companies didn’t use those profits to expand production, and instead used it to “buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders.”

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse D-R.I. says oil companies have been making illegal profits “obscene” profits. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/ Getty Images

Their bill will impose a quarterly tax equal to 50% on oil companies producing at least 300,000. This so-called “clawback” Oil profits that were earned after last year would be subjected to tax

The tax revenue would be used to send money to the consumers “in the form of a quarterly rebate, which would phase out for single filers who earn more than $75,000 in annual income and joint filers who earn more than $150,000,” According to the proposal.

The lawmakers estimate that with current prices between $90 and $100 a barrel, their bill would impose about $48 billion in additional taxes on the biggest oil companies, and return about $255 each year to individual tax filers, and $382 each year to families.

Democrats have accused the oil companies of being a threat to democracy “gouging” During the recent period high inflation, oil companies denied these accusations and said they were “proven false.”

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The next tax would affect large oil companies such as ExxonMobil. (Carlos Javier Sanchez/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images

The American Exploration and Production Council is the American Association of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Companies. They argue that oil prices are determined on a global basis and not by one company.

“The reality is that American oil and gas producers simply do not — and cannot — price gouge,” The group stated that they had made the announcement last year. “The largest non-state-owned oil company in the world (ExxonMobil) only has around 2% of the world’s oil reserves and production.”

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Additionally, the group stated that the Federal Trade Commission had studied the issue multiple times and concluded that the rising prices were due to market factors. “not illegal behavior from oil companies.”

Last year, Democrats offered similar legislation when they controlled the Senate and House of Representatives. But it was rejected.